Jul 24 Death: The Podcast

There are a handful of things every person on Earth is certain to experience, and one of them is death. The problem is that we don't really experience it, or not directly; death, by its nature, is kind of a one-time deal, and totally, unfathomably subjective. So it is that just about the only hard fact of human life is also, for most of us, a deeply uncomfortable subject. Not so in this program from New Orleans-based audio-makers INO, in which psychologist Arian Elfant interviews people who know death intimately. We meet a death penalty activist; a doctor; a veterinarian; a survivor of brain cancer. Elfant is, unsurprisingly, a very good listener, and equipped with the requisite delicacy to talk about this. We were particularly struck by her conversation with cinematographer Bob Perrin, who reveals that he is himself dying. This isn't a flashy production - it's just conversation - but the sum here is more than the parts, and there are real moments of tenderness and revelation. Half-hour episodes are released every few weeks.

Gateway episodes: How we live with death row (18 Apr 2016) / Through death's lens (30 May 2016) / Comparative death (7 Mar 2016)